Summary: This is a sermon for Christ the King Sunday (Sunday before Thanksgiving) on the parable of the sheep and the goats.

A man urgently needed to get to town. So he went to a neighbor who happened to be a pastor and asked to borrow his horse. The pastor obliged but told the man that there were some special instructions required for riding this particular horse. The preacher said, “since we need to begin our prayers with thanksgiving and praise, I have taught the horse to go when he hears the words ‘thank you God.’” The preacher continued, “since we end our prayers with ‘amen,’ I have taught the horse to stop when he hears the word amen.”

The pastor asked the man if he understood, and the man answered, “sure.”

The man got on the horse and said, “Thank God.” The horse began to move. He said it again. And the horse moved faster. He said Thank God once more and the horse was in a gallop.

About that time the man realized that he is headed straight for a cliff. He yelled Whoa! But the horse didn’t even slow down. He starts yelling, “stop, whoa, retreat,” but for the life of him could not remember what to say to get the horse to stop. Finally, only feet from the edge of the cliff them man remembered. He shouted “amen.” With that, the horse dug in with all fours, stopping only inches from the edge of the cliff. Wiping his forehead, the man said? . . . (congregation in masse) “Thank God!”

This is Christ the King Sunday, and also the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We each have so much to be thankful for. And as followers of Jesus we need to say thank God, and we also need to express our thankfulness through our actions.

Over the past few weeks we have been looking at a series of parables about the Second Coming of Christ. Each of the parables that we have looked at depict One of great importance, a Bride Groom, or a Master, who is away and will return at an unexpected hour. Each of these parables show us those who were prepared, and those who were not prepared for his coming. Great judgment ensued in each of these parables.

This morning we are looking at the fourth of these parables, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

Matthew

25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy

angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate

them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the

goats:

25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the

left.

In this parable, we have no need to determine who it is that is coming. It is Jesus and all of his holy angels are coming with him. He is going to divide his sheep from the goats. Notice in verse 32, that it says “his sheep,” but does not say “his goats.” They are “the goats.” Do we have any goats here this morning? I hope not. I hope that each and every one of us are sheep that belong to the King. I know that I can sometimes act like a goat. But, when I do so, I am usually reminded, shaken, shouted at, “quit that!” . . . you are a child of the King!